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"Bossy" is a weighted word in our lexicon, often used as a pejorative for women who show leadership and assertiveness. But when Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LeanIn.org, teamed up with Beyoncé and Girl Scouts of America earlier this month ...

Jenna Benn sat in her favorite childhood restaurant in Chicago, waiting for the doctor's call. She loved this place; it made her feel safe. She hadn’t eaten there since high school, but that day, Dec. 20, 2010, she came back. She needed comfort. Her ...

Wildlife research is a story often told in numbers. Among population numbers, territory sizes and incident reports, the data resulting from field work is best understood in large figures and visualizations. Sometimes, however, a rare individual anima...

In honor of this year’s World Water Day, a number of organizations are working on forward-looking clean-water initiatives. These initiatives are helping protect our planet's water supply in a variety of ways, from providing water-filtration systems t...

This World Water Day, rethink your water and energy usage –– connected issues that affect each other and the world. Every year, the United Nations celebrates World Water Day on March 22, a day the organization highlights to focus the world’s attentio...

Most people in countries with unrestricted Internet access take it for granted, forgetting that many countries around the world have censored, limited or no Internet access -- even though it's a human right, according to the United Nations. This does...

Five months ago, antipoverty group Oxfam called out some of the world's largest food and beverage companies for buying sugar, palm oil, and soy from suppliers that kick people off their land to make way for plantations. On March 18, PepsiCo, one of t...

YouTube officially announced the winners of the 2014 DoGooder Video Awards last week, recognizing the most creative and inspiring videos from non-profits and individuals over the past year. This year's winners, specifically, showcase the fight agains...

Life is too short to not be happy. That's the message that the second-annual International Day of Happiness aims to promote on a global level Thursday. The "24 Hours of Happiness" initiative is an effort supported by the United Nations Foundation and...

There's a lot to be happy about today. Spring has sprung, March Madness has tipped off, and the UN Foundation has declared today an International Day of Happiness. The goal of the holiday is to help us reflect on the simpler things that bring us joy....

Though typically uttered with more vulgar language, the off-color remark of "defecating a brick" usually signifies a person's shock. Once you see this solar-powered toilet, you may be inspired to do the same, quite literally. SEE ALSO: Photos of Tast...

AUSTIN, Texas -- A homeless poodle named Tater-Tot found love and a future at SXSW 2014. Tater-Tot, along with thousands of other cats and dogs in need, have a new home and a chance at compassion, thanks to events and social campaigns that raise awar...

Relaxation is not a word most people associate with the marathon of events and parties that is SXSW. But visitors to this year's festival have found popup "relaxation stations," clusters of colorful hammocks for event goers to take a moment to put th...

An estimated $1.5 billion dollars were cut from school sports budgets nationwide during the 2010-2011 school year. During the 2009-2010 school year, $2 billion dollars were cut. Youth sports programs are declining in large part because funding is dry...

The Houghton Library on the Harvard campus holds the university's collection of rare books. Inside its walls -- in addition to objects culled from the old "Treasure Room" of Widener, the school's principal library -- you'll find Medieval and Renaissa...

The Foldscope, an origami-like microscope, is the size of a bookmark, virtually indestructible and costs only $0.50 to produce. Its creator, Manu Prakash, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, hopes such a microscope will allo...

DoSomething.org is all about empowering young people. The organization, one of the largest non-profits for teens and young adults in the United States, connects 13-to-25 year olds through a wide variety of social causes. It didn’t take long for DoSom...

In what may be a critical breakthrough for creating artificial organs, Harvard researchers say they have created tissue interlaced with blood vessels. Using a custom-built four-head 3D printer and a "disappearing" ink, materials scientist Jennifer Le...

One-second-a-day videos have practically become their own art form in the past couple of years -- whether the videos in question are chronicling the lives of a grown man or a newborn infant. There's even an app for that, of course. But no one-second-...

Retard. The word stings of ignorance and disgust. But if the Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign succeeds, you'll never have to hear it (and hopefully never say it) again. It's a derisive term used interchangeably with "idiot" and is especially ...

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Deputy Secretary Heather Higginbottom recognized 10 extraordinarily brave women on Tuesday with the 2014 Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award. The ceremony was part of the 103rd anniversary of I...

The most dangerous poacher of the 21st century might do his work behind a computer screen. The attempted hacking of a Bengal tiger's GPS collar in the Panna Tiger Reserve last July alerted the world to a new kind of threat to its wildlife: cyberpoach...

A team of UCLA researchers found that Twitter and other real-time social media can be used to track HIV outbreaks and drug behavior, potentially helping detection and prevention efforts. The team's study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine ...

Even in 2014, the rights of women and girls are severely threatened by sex trafficking, slavery, child marriage and other violations around the world. International Women's Day (IWD), observed annually on March 8, continues to spread awareness and ga...

NASA signed two patent agreements with GRoK Technologies on Monday to help advance biotechnology innovations that could improve the health of astronauts working long-term at the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts who live in space for mont...

NekNominate, a game that involves drinking and posting videos online, reportedly led to at least five deaths. Now it's getting a new, positive spin -- thanks to do-gooders around the world. The viral craze typically requires a player to film himself ...

Whether it's spreading awareness on social media or tapping into the power of mobile in developing countries, non-profits understand technology can be a force for good. They just don't always have the means or the know-how to harness it. The Institut...

South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) is a massive festival, bringing together the brighest minds in digital media, technology, journalism, health, film, space, business, gaming and more. With hundreds of sessions, parties and meetups spread across ...

Actress Ellen Page publicly came out as gay for the first time Friday during an emotional speech at the Human Rights Campaign's first national conference in Las Vegas. Page spoke for nearly eight minutes at the Time to Thrive conference, commenting o...

Let's call it bromancing for charity. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are auctioning off the chance to spend some time with the BFF Hollywood power couple, via Omaze.com. It will only cost you $10 per entry, which will be donated to either the Eastern Con...

RoboCop may be blasting his way into theaters this week, but in reality, a cyborg like him is probably still 100 years away from patrolling our streets. SEE ALSO: RoboCop: Science Fact And Fiction But don't tell that to this team of undergrads from F...

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